Blaze Bernstein’s killing one year later: How his death has impacted Orange County and beyond

Officials determined he had been stabbed 20 times, killed in an act of rage. Bernstein was gay and Jewish, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor.

And for most of 2018, a year that saw a surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes including the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that left 11 dead, and hate incidents against members of the LGBT community, Bernstein’s killing became a reference point for members of both communities who felt targeted in such an environment.

The Orange County District Attorney in August filed a hate crime charge against Samuel Woodward, 20, the man accused of killing Bernstein. Prosecutors point to a mountain of evidence showing Woodward was a member of Atomwaffen Division, a violent hate group that promoted, among other forms of hate, anti-Semitism and homophobia….